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goÌ„st (× ×¤×©×, nephesh; πνεῦμα, pneuÌma) : “Ghost,†the middle-English word for “breath,†“spirit,†appears in the King James Version as the translation of nephesh (“breath,†“the breath of life,†animal soul or spirit, the vital principle, hence, “lifeâ€), in two places of the Old Testament, namely, , “the giving up of the ghost†(so the Revised Version (British and American)), and , “She hath given up the ghostâ€; gawa‛, “to gasp out,†“expire†(die), is also several times so translated (, ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ). In Apocrypha (Tobit 14:11) psucheÌ„Ì is translated in the same way as nephesh in the Old Testament, and in 2 Macc 3:31, en eschaÌteÌ„ pnoeÌ„Ì is rendered “give up the ghost,†the Revised Version (British and American) “quite at the last gasp.â€
In the New Testament “to give up the ghost†is the translation of ekpneÌoÌ„, “to breathe out†(, ; ; so the Revised Version (British and American)); of ekpsuÌchoÌ„, “to breathe out,†“expire†(, ; ); in , apheÌ„Ìken tō̇ pneuÌma, and in , pareÌdoÌ„ken tō̇ pneuÌma, are rendered respectively, “yielded†and “gave up the ghost,†the Revised Version (British and American) “yielded up his spirit,†“gave up his spirit.â€
“The Holy Ghost†is also frequent in the King James Version; in the American Standard Revised Version it is invariably changed to “Holy Spirit,†in the English Revised Version sometimes only, chiefly in the Gospels. See HOLY SPIRIT; SPIRIT.